.254 AVG
.846 OPS
9 HR
20 RBI

I like Hobby a lot but Young sure would look good in a Sox uniform.

BTB: Matt LaPorta: The Next Ryan Braun?

The question becomes: where does he fit in? LaPorta is not a good defender – he will likely be relegated to first base or a corner outfield position in the majors, seeing as Designated Hitter is not an option with the Brew Crew. The Brewers have Prince Fielder entrenched at first and Ryan Braun and Corey Hart locked into the outfield. Thus, there seem to be only two solutions:

1) Make a trade. Everyone loves young (read: affordable) hitting (well…except for the Dodgers), and the Brewers’s already suspect rotation was weakened by the loss of Yovani Gallardo for the year. However, despite the offseason deals between the Rays and Twins and between the Rangers and Reds where Delmon Young, Matt Garza, Edinson Volquez, and Josh Hamilton (amongst others) switched teams, trades involving young studs – especially studs who have not yet made it to the majors – are rare. The Brewers would have to find a team who values LaPorta highly, despite his defensive inability, and also has young pitching to spare. The Angels come to mind (how far apart in value are LaPorta and Nick Adenhart?), but the Angels are not exactly known for making blockbuster trades. The Brewers could also trade one of their more-established young players, who probably have more trade value, but also have more internal value, seeing as they’ve proven they can hit at the major league level.

could javy net us laporta?
I know it says young pitching; I just thought I’ll ask,
we probably should look for another team to trade javy yes?

I love Jim Thome. I don’t think Aaron Rowand is Superman. But I think that trade killed the White Sox and will continue to kill the Sox for who knows how long.

It doesn’t make sense if you compare their careers. Thome is going to the Hall of Fame; Rowand is going to the hospital. But it makes perfect sense if you understand the grinder mentality that Roward represented, the grinder mentality that the 2005 Sox lineup had, the grinder mentality that existed precisely because Rowand wasn’t Thome. It existed and worked because those Sox were forced to worry about where their next run was coming from and forced the entire lineup to worry about fundamental, situational hitting.

I thought he was one of the best prospects in all of baseball when the Sox traded him but felt it was a price worth paying for another title shot in 2006. Obviously things didn’t work out in 2006 but hindsight in 20/20. Given the circumstances I think it was a fair trade for both sides.

Sad to see Young bursting onto the scene with the Diamondbacks though.

is Uribe has a “V”?

I’m just askin’.

• Padres released outfielder Jim Edmonds. Wow, surprising move but Edmonds is broken down.
• Blue Jays signed outfielder Brad Wilkerson.
• Blue Jays acquired outfielder Kevin Mench from the Rangers for cash considerations.
• Blue Jays designated LHP Gustavo Chacin for assignment. What a shame, he had a lot of potential.
• Blue Jays designated infielder Sergio Santos for assignment. Santos = Uribe.
• Brewers outrighted RHP Derrick Turnbow to Triple-A Nashville.
• Rangers designated first baseman Ben Broussard for assignment.
• Pirates acquired outfielder Jason Michaels from the Indians for a player to be named. Good, he can’t kill us anymore.

Or what? PST be damned!

Anderson hits wall, wins honeys; Sox end sac fly drought